Toyota’s sales rebound dwarfs U.S. automakers

DETROIT – Japanese automakers came roaring back in May, even as Detroit’s carmakers held their own.

Toyota led the field with a jump in May of 87 percent on sales of 202,973 vehicles.

The increase reflects a return to normalcy for the Japanese automaker, which saw its inventory cut drastically a year ago in the wake of a disastrous earthquake and tsunami.

Sales of the Camry more than doubled to 39,571 in May while sales of Prius more than tripled to 21,477.

Detroit’s automakers also had a strong May, even though a year ago, they were selling everything they could make to compensate for the shortages among Japanese automakers.

Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia, three companies with aggressive growth in the U.S., also reported increases of over a year ago.